“It will be later than it ought to be.”
Indeed it was so late that Madame Van Heemskirk had locked up her house for the night, and was troubled at her husband’s delay—even a little cross:
“An old man like you, Joris,” she said in a tone of vexation—“sitting till nine o’clock with the last runaway from Paris; a cold you have already, and all for a girl that threw her senses behind her, to marry a Frenchman.”
“Much she has suffered, Lysbet.”
“Much she ought to suffer. And I believe not in Arenta Van Ariens’ suffering. In some way, by hook or crook, by word or deed, she would out of any trouble work her way.”
“I will sit a little by the fire, Lysbet. Sit down by me. My mind is full of her story.”
“That is it. And sleep you will not, and tomorrow sick you will be; and anxious and tired I shall be; and who for? The Marquise de Tounnerre! Well then, Joris, in thy old age it is late for thee to bow down to the Marquise de Tounnerre!”
“To God Almighty only I bow down, Lysbet, and as for titles what care of them has Jons Van Heemskirk? Think you, when God calls me He will say ‘Councillor’ or ‘Senator’? No, He will say ‘Jons Van Heemskirk!’ and I shall answer to that name. But you know well, Lysbet, this bloody trial of liberty in Paris touches all the world beside.”
“Forgive me, Joris! A shame it is to be cross with thee, nor am I cross even with that poor Arenta. A child, a very child she is.”
“But bitter fears and suffering she has come through. Her husband was guillotined last May, and from her home she was taken—no time to write to a friend—no time to save anything she had, except a string of pearls, which round her waist for many weeks, she had worn. From prison to prison she was sent, until at last she was ordered before the Revolutionary Tribunal. From that tribunal to the guillotine is only a step, and she would surely have taken it but for—”